Background: The State University of New York (SUNY), the nation's largest comprehensive public university system, recently proposed making experiential learning activities available to all students enrolled in an academic program. Each campus was tasked with examining the feasibility of including experiential learning activities as a degree…

This exploratory study examined the benefits of participating in a three-week, multi-state bicycling trip for eight adolescents who participated in a first-generation, college-bound program. The primary purpose of this study was to explore participants' perceptions of their own resilience, independence, responsibility, and problem-solving and to…

This study is a phenomenological portraiture of an adventurer that explores the meanings of the adventure experience. Through interview and observation, I reveal four thematic meanings of the adventure experience for the research participant: solitude and camaraderie; escape; challenge; and living life. The implications of these findings for…

The people around us - as well as the methodical progression of education through content - often shape our relationship to the world. Currently, Earth is at a crossroads, which requires humans to act and live more sustainably with an intentional environmental ethos, whether for literal survival or for slowing Earth's resource degradation.…

While key personalities often connected with the roots of outdoor education and experiential learning, like Dewey, Seton, Hahn or Naess, are well known internationally, Jaroslav Foglar, a Czech outdoor and experiential educator, is mostly unknown to the international audience. The article adds to the literature related to Czech outdoor experience…

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether girls' levels of resilience increased after participation in a variety of programs. In this study, 711 girls participated in one of four program types: adventure education (n = 71), experiential education (n = 164), traditional camp setting (n = 228), and mixed camp setting (n = 248). The study…

Background: Research has identified enhancement of positive self-concept as an important outcome connected with participation in adventure-based activities in physical education (PE). Purpose: This study compared the effectiveness of Team Building Through Physical Challenges (TBPC) and Adventure Curriculum for Physical Education (ACPE) programs on…

The Canoemobile program serves as a floating classroom that provides fun and engaging, water-based activities to connect urban youth to the natural world through hands-on, outdoor learning on local waterways in cities across America. The results of the program evaluation suggest that Canoemobile is meeting its primary objectives of engaging…

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has increasingly taken on importance around the world, in part due to the growing awareness of environmental concerns such as climate change, and in part due to a challenge set forth by the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) to integrate the principles, values, and…

Sail training voyages have been shown to enhance self-constructs and inter-personal and intra-personal skills. It is suggested through this case-study approach with twelve 14 year-old crew participants that such an experience contributes towards well-being and character development in emerging adulthood. An audit of voyage-based experiences…

Challenge course programs influence a variety of psychological, social, and educational outcomes. Yet, many challenges exist when measuring challenge course outcomes like logistical constraints and a lack of specific assessment tools. This study piloted and tested an assessment tool designed for facilitators to measure participant outcomes in…

Students with low socioeconomic status (SES) are much less likely to participate in out-ofschool-time (OST) activities than their more affluent peers. This "opportunity gap" may have compounding effects, as these activities help develop key noncognitive factors: the skills, beliefs, and behaviors associated with college readiness.…

Whilst adventure-based experiential education traditions have long-standing claims of progressive, democratic learning potential, little research has examined practice from within democratic theories of participation and learning. Focusing on a complex network making up a disturbing interaction in an outdoor education programme, I posit forms of…

Violence prevention is a key focus for many intervention programs, yet little is known about how or why certain programs are able to successfully produce effective prevention efforts. The purpose of this study was to identify the essential elements of the Play for Peace (PFP) program, how it creates change in participants, and how it is…

This article examines the use of adventure-based experiential therapy (AET) with child and adolescent psychiatry inpatients. AET environments, indications, practicality, therapeutic effects and research are outlined and clinical findings are reported. Activities such as rock-climbing, exploring a creek and caving are discussed and the limitations…